Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Kampong Semaloi, Muar, dan Johor Bharu

From left to right: Syafiq, Wani, Ayah, Umi, me, Along, Kak Sue

Ah well, my break is really coming to its end soon. My flight back will be at 10.20am on 24th August, insya Allah - exactly one day after my birthday. This sucks! Nevertheless, I'd say that this is the most well-spent break I've ever had so far :) Got to spend the whole Ramadhan with my friends and family. Got to spend the first few days of eid with my extended family. The somewhat awkward moment when everyone's asking for your opinion in both medical and dental aspects and you're still a student, not yet certified - but I'm grateful to be able to help them at least a minute part of it.

Managed to snap a picture of the famous mi bandung Muar Tanjung Agas

Raya celebration in Muar (my mother's hometown) is not complete without a hunt for mi bandung Muar, a delicacy each one of you should try, honestly, but ah well, we always end up eating at the same shop - Mi Bandung Muar Tanjung Agas. It's located near Sekolah Menengah Asrama Sains Muar. Go look for it, guys!

While Umi, Ayah, and I were visiting my late grandparents and greatgrandparents' grave, a thought struck me - will I have children or maybe relatives wishing my well-being in afterlife in the future, when this spirit has detached from its container? Something for us to ponder. Ayah said something that really bugged me, "Kalau Umi dan Ayah pergi dulu, awak adik-beradik semua tahu ke nak buat apa? Ke mana patut mayat kami dihalakan? Macam mana solat jenazah? Macam mana nak uruskan semuanya? Sedekahkan kami dengan doa-doa?". Alhamdulillah, my younger brother, Ahmad, is well-equipped with religious knowledge, but I believe that it's the responsibility of each and every one of us. I am going to be honest, when Ayah forwarded me those questions, I couldn't answer all of them (of course, I started studying on these once I got back home). Yang paling sedih, sampaikah doa-doa dan sedekah-sedekah saya pada waktu itu?

My trip back home from Muar, along with my parents was filled with Ustaz Azhar Idrus's talks (which made all of us giggle repeatedly), my playlist which I customised to feature songs that Umi likes, Hafiz Hamidun's Zikir Terapi Diri, and traffic jams along the PLUS highway. We called PLUS Infoline a few times and were put on hold for so long that it reminded me of a similar incident involving a USM operator during which I had to wait more than 3 minutes before getting connected to a lecturer. I was mumbling, "Hurrrr, takde orang keee kat situuu? Angkat leee angkat leeee, ponek eden nunggu ni jang", and suddenly an operator picked up the phone and snapped, "HOI!! Ingat orang takde kerja ke?!", back at me. Terkejut beruk aku! Taubat tak bebel masa tunggu operator angkat dah.

Wani, Syafiq, Along, and Kak Sue will be coming tomorrow to celebrate Umi's (27th Aug) as well as my birthday :) We'll be having a BBQ weeeee and Umi gave me the green light to bake a cake of my choice. Weeee againnnn! Time to put that Big Book of Baking book Wani gave me a week ago to use. Come to think of it... this is my first time celebrating it with my family throughout these five years of DDS. Oh, Allah, thank You thank You thank You.

As my buddy senior told me, "Just have as much fun as you want, spend your break maximally, and give all you can when you start your extension period". True that :)